


Mari's Life and Love

by HQ_Wingster



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Brother-Sister Relationships, Childhood Memories, Coming of Age, Essays, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Growing Up, Light Angst, Love, Sibling Bonding, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 17:23:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12089781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HQ_Wingster/pseuds/HQ_Wingster
Summary: Even when she has college essays to write, Mari still has time to be with Yuuri.





	Mari's Life and Love

**Author's Note:**

> I used to write a lot for Mari so I'm getting back into my roots. This is the first of an ongoing "Fanfic on Ice" series I'm doing where a lot of the YoI characters are fanfic writers. This all contributes to the end-game for a BBOI I'm posting in Feburary.
> 
> Warning: Mari writes about her childhood, and there is a scene in her writing where she describes Yuuri's birth. It's not graphic but if it makes you uncomfortable, skip over that paragraph.

Roughly thirteen days ago, Mari should’ve started her essays. No,  _ roughly thirteen days ago,  _ she should’ve been ready to submit.

August 13th, 2004:  _ Mari was applying for colleges a little later than some of her more studious peers.  _ Holed up in her jigsaw of a room with school supplies spilling from every gap along her wall, Mari’s fingers pricked and prodded the computer’s keyboard as she answered survey questions, filled out application forms, and jotted notes for her short answers and essays.

Every little thing mattered.

What was her plan? What was her goal? How was she going to finish her papers with the time she had left? When were applications due? Did she have recommendation letters? How do you ask for those without it sounding like you were begging for someone’s newborn? Okay, Mari  _ may’ve  _ exaggerated with that last one. Just a tiny bit, but she her drafts for those recommendation letters and those drafts were going to remain in her trash folder until she could pull something together.

Buried under her t-shirt, Mari pulled her hair back into a sagging ponytail before scrolling down her application page, double-checking for errors or possible mistakes that she made while in a sugar-rush with  _ Red Bull  _ littering her study space. Mari squinted at her monitor screen, wondering if her vision was failing or if she was too tired to do anything.

Honestly, it was the middle of the night and she was the only one awake. Just wasting away, doing something that she should’ve been done a long time ago but it wasn’t too late yet. Mari reassured herself so many times, but it felt a bit pointless after she turned off her computer. It was time for bed, but she needed to move. Legs stiff as boards because she had them pressed against herself for emotional support.

Mari pulled at her waistband, watching it stretch into funny angles while her thumb rested at the top of her sweats. Shuffling across the wooden floorboards, tiptoeing ever-so slightly to check how everyone else was doing.

Yuutopia Hot Springs was dark, closed, and empty. Tables were slick and clean, not a glass laid out and there weren’t any crumbs when Mari passed by the main area where the television was tucked in the corner for the night. Mari stumbled into the kitchen for something to eat, a little snack before resting her head. Her mother stocked up on some healthy fruits and vegetables, but the odds of Mari eating them were slim to none.

She was nineteen, young, and so forgetful about the things that seemed important. It was hard for Mari to imagine or to even call herself an adult. She didn’t feel it. Even when she gripped a cold can of soda, it was a childish hold compared to an adult one.

When she skimmed the fridge for other snacks, her eyes beelined towards the sweets and salty tidbits lounging in the condiment compartment, away from the more  _ adult  _ tidbits.

Adult tidbits: coffee, alcohol, yogurt, and other mundane treats that made Mari sick to her stomach because she had a childish taste. Something that never left her, even when she became an older sibling for a very special someone. Mari poked her head out from the fridge for just a moment.

_ What am I doing? _

She closed the door and tiptoed back to the hallway where the bedrooms were. Her parents were the closest on the right, fast asleep and worried about her. Worried that Mari won’t be able to go to a university once she graduates, worried that she won’t be able to find a stable job, worried that her life was going to be harder than they wanted, and there were more worries to add; however, Mari turned her head away and concentrated on the room at the very end of the hall.

Yuuri’s room:  _ where little Yuuri was snoozing under his blanket with Vicchan.  _ The two adorkable faces of Yuutopia Hot Springs, snug in each other's embrace. Mari saw the rise of their blanket with every breath and seeing her brother so  _ vulnerable  _ like this eased a troubling chord that had been playing on and off in Mari’s heart.

There was a time where Mari, herself, was much like Yuuri. Able to sleep and shut out the world just so that she can rest for a new tomorrow. There was innocence during those times because the world felt at ease and one was able to drop their guard for a moment to feel weights fall off the shoulders. But tonight, that wasn’t Mari. Her weights had a deadline and if she didn’t complete what she had to do, the weights would only get heavier from there.

Just as Mari was about to retreat back into her room, she heard a little voice that perked her up.

_ “Mari.”  _ A soft whisper uttered in a still silence.

Yuuri was still asleep, holding Vicchan close to his person and drooling over his pillow.

\---

When daybreak’s bell rose high in the sky, Mari was back to work. Staring at a formidable opponent while creative block stabbed at every idea that her brain tried to accept. Mari tapped her finger against her mouse, impatiently. The taps replicating the rhythm of her heart, of the rising stress that threatened to spill over and consume her like the  _ Leviathan. _

_ Pitter patter.  _ Little footsteps running the hall and entering her room. Mari didn’t turn around, not right away. She stared at an empty Google Doc before Yuuri’s voice came in, loud and clear.

“Can you read something for me?” Yuuri had something behind his back while he rubbed the ends of his toes together. Mari eased back in her seat, squinting a little and noticing a spiral notebook behind her brother’s back. A pencil in his hand and the eraser was shaved off because of vigorous rubbing, back and forth until Yuuri found something that he was satisfied with.

Mari lifted a shoulder and cocked her head. “What is it?”

_ “Fanfic.” _ The word rolled off of Yuuri’s tongue flawlessly.

“What?” Mari leaned her head forward.

Yuuri stiffened. “Just a story,” he blurted. Yuuri even rubbed his heels together.

Mari leaned back.  _ “Okay.”  _ She stressed the word, letting the vowel roll and catapult off her from her tongue because she needed a distraction. Mari didn’t look at her computer screen when she exited out from the blank Google Doc. There were  _ important  _ things to do, and Yuuri was opening up to her.

In all of his eleven years, Yuuri-- _ well, there was a first for everything.  _ Mari patted her hands over her thighs and Yuuri waddled over and sat on her. Rocking his feet back and forth like a child near the edge of a pier, and he handed his notebook to Mari. She turned to the first page, crooked characters and other oddities stared back at her when her eyes skimmed down the lines. A bit of a smile hooked the ends of her mouth, curving up a smile before Mari grabbed one of her pens to edit Yuuri’s work.

Even if Mari didn’t know what fanfic was, she knew it was the reason why Yuuri was here in the first place and he could only get better from here.

“Do you want to stay here while I read it?”

No words. Yuuri simply slid off of Mari’s lap and hurried to his room, probably to hide under a blanket with Vicchan. Mari suppressed a smile and began her reading. Occasionally, she added notes and little comments on the side that Yuuri could read later if he wanted to. But all the while, Mari had a smile when she read Yuuri’s first  _ fanfic  _ and when she was done, she called Yuuri back into her room and handed the notebook to him.

Yuuri had all sorts of questions. Did Mari like it?  _ Yes.  _ What was her opinion?  _ Didn’t know what was going on, but it sounded cool.  _ Is fanfic weird?

Mari raised an eyebrow. “It’s a story, isn’t it?”

Yuuri didn’t meet his sister’s gaze. “People say--”

“Who’s  _ ‘people’  _ and why do they matter?”

“They tease me.” Yuuri finally met Mari’s eyes. “They say that writing won’t get me anywhere.”

Mari slouched in her seat, rubbing a finger under her chin. “From what I’ve read, you have a powerful imagination.  _ That’s amazing, Yuuri.”  _ A few notes fluttered from her lips. “You’re doing something that not a lot of people are willing to sit down and do.”

Yuuri lifted his head. “Really?”

Mari nodded. “I have to write my own story too and look at you! You’re doing something that I can’t do.”

Yuuri’s eyes lit up.  _ “Really-really?” _

“Really-really.” The response left a gentle warmth over Mari’s lips when she turned her attention back to her computer screen. “I have to finish my story now, Yuuri. Maybe later, I can explain to you what I wrote on the side. Okay?”

“Can I read your story when you’re done?”

Some color flooded into Mari’s eyes when opened up Google Docs.  _ “One day, I promise.” _

\---

**_Write an essay in which you tell us about someone who has made an impact on your life and explain how and why this person is important to you._ **

“Life has taught me that respect, caring and love must be shared, for it's only through sharing that friendships are born,” states Donna Favors, a member of the Board of Directors of the Montgomery Institute. Over the many years of my life, I’ve encountered many opportunities that have impacted me greatly and have shaped my way of life. Such impacts often resulted from encounters with people whom I trust, whom I love, or whom I’ve shared many experiences with. Many of these events weren’t as great an impact towards my life, due to my narrow view of the world, and my vulgar character as a child. Although, I wasn’t strongly affected by much of my past events, there was one person who was able to change my views of life, to look at life in an optimistic way, to be able to make friends, to be able to look at the community with interest and care. Yuuri, my brother, has had a prodigious impact on my life.

Pride and egocentric were words that described me, my identity and my role in society. I could be seen as one of the evils of this world, a person who cares only for herself and to strive for self-respect from her  peers. I didn’t have lots of friends in my childhood years, and was left living my young life in misery and despair. My vicious, white eyes, stressed with the intensity of blood as it flowed through, would often make contact to those who dared look at me. My eyes would say, “What? What do you want,” in an unfriendly manner as though I was lacking respect from that person. In response, their eyes would stare at me as though it was apologizing and withdrawing itself from the look of my malicious, red soon-to-be eyes. They would immediately walk away after their success from withdrawing their focus from me, and the compression of their fears of what may have happened. However, that was the past; I was immature, ill-educated and I had to resolve my troubles in utter silence that was imposed in those who live their lives out of loneliness.

My fate had taken a step further as I witness a magnificent event in the hospital. It was November 29, 1993, and there I was, one of the lucky few standing in the delivery room, looking at my mother as the cold, calm air slid over me. I continued to stare, but only to find that my eyes were bitter and were only half-opened. I began to hear the pain that was exerted out from my mother’s body as I stood there with my keen, wide ears. Her cry was as fierce as the lion’s roar as she laid there facing pain from an unknown force at which was stabbing her internally. I forcibly closed my eyes; I could no longer bare the pain I’ve witnessed. My mind went blank, and an image appeared to me. It was a white light; it had laid its hands upon the child which resides in my mother. Those hands began to pull the baby out. I opened my eyes and found myself focused to the small head of the baby gradually forcing its way out. My mom was still fighting the tortuous stab as the baby made its way out. My eyes were focused until the baby was completely out. Yuuri, a name given by my mother, had just taken his first breath of life. The room grew warmer; the sense of life had brought joy upon the bitter, painful, and the soon-to-be relieved faces. At that time, I knew this was the chance at which I would withdraw myself from isolation and submit myself to the real world with my brother.

The existence of my brother had shaped my life and had brought unexpected changes as we both progressed. Years and years had flowed by quickly; I was able to let go of my solitude at which my brother was there to keep me company and to turn my frown upside down. Whenever my brother laughed, my body would feel relaxed as though my stress and problems have been completely dissolved throughout my body. The pain and agony that had long affected me in my childhood years had been lifted as he had brought joy in my life.

Day by day, after my brother had gone home from school, he would always come up to me, give me a hug, and include the words, “Mari… I love you.” Seeing as how such words can come from a young, innocent soul who had begun his life not so long ago, I felt touched each time he drew herself towards me, adding the finishing touch to end the day.  At times where we would be separated due to the vast differences in age, where I would work my way to college and my brother would continue his studies in primary school, he would always shed his tears as though his eyes were storming. I would look at his face, overwhelming with tears, and observe what I see. While I try to make sense of the tears coming from my brother, I asked myself, “Why was he doing this?” In society today, we can observe that siblings don’t get along with each other, but the feeling exerted from my brother, I felt that he cared for me. I was oppressed with an intolerable sense of guilt as I stood there and witness my brother’s altruistic stare at which I inherited his kindness.

Kindness was one of those values of which I lacked throughout my life; I can describe myself as imprudent upon meeting or talking to people a few years ago. My brother’s altruistic stare, his laughter and his love for me have had a great impact on me. I was able to lift myself from the darkness that had surrounded me, and was able to open up to people around me. Upon meeting people, I would look at them eye-to-eye, greet them, and start a friendly, calm conversation. At the same time, I would work with them to build a stronger bond between us. My views of life had never been so lively as my friends and family support me through my studies to, one day, become a surgeon; to help the people I care for, and to better the lives of society.

Being a part of me, my brother is a person of great importance in my past, my present, and my future. He is the person who incorporated me with the optimistic views of life, the value of kindness, and how it feels to have someone by your side supporting you. After all, I was left lonely in this world as a young child, but the existence of my brother had further influenced me to mature. As my life progresses, I learned, "People care for you and cry for you, they can straighten out your soul," a quote by Kahlil Gibran, one of the most important Arabic language authors of the early twentieth century. This quote is a great significance to me because it reminds me of the great influence my brother has had on my soul as he stood holding my hands, giving me his guidance down the road as I continue my growth down this path we call Life.


End file.
